I’m pleased to say that she’s not entirely rejecting the spoon like I had feared. She’s not taking huge amounts, only about 55g/2oz per serve, but it’s something and she’s not fighting! I’d been expecting her to be even more orally defensive then she already was but, for the moment at least, she’s not doing too badly.

For the last number of months it has become incredibly difficult to get Erin to eat. She’s become increasingly resistant to being spoon fed and, at times, would only eat if she was to feed herself. Unfortunately at her age and with her skill level self feeding is not only messy (which I can cope with) but awfully inefficient as it takes her over 45 minutes to eat a quarter of a jar. She just wasn’t getting enough nutrients or calories.

At our three monthly appointment with Erin’s paediatrician we discovered that Erin had gained the princely sum of 30 grams since her last check up. Afterwards we were referred to a dietitian and a speech pathologist in the hopes of being able to encourage her to eat more. Unfortunately we soon discovered that she was beginning to loose weight–80 grams in one week. Quite a feat.

Arrangements were made and Erin was admitted to hospital to have a NG tube inserted and tests run. Long story short, after all the tests came back negative and a week had past she was discharged having gained 165g in a week.

Since that first, fateful paediatric appointment five weeks ago Miss Erin has gained 640g and 3.5cm in height.

This time last year Erin was still ventilated and still living in her incubator. She weighed 905 grams and was six weeks old.

Oh how things have changed! We don’t have an official weight (paediatric appointment tomorrow) but let me tell you, she’s a whole lot bigger this mother’s day then last. She’s had many firsts since this time last year, most recently her first trip to the beach.

She’s crawling now and saying “bububub”. She’s, just barely, eating solids. Interestingly she seems most keen on her veggies–as long as I lace them with sour cream–but she also likes custard and yogurt. One day, she promises me, she’ll be a big girl and actually fit in the pants that are already too short. Hell, she may even be TOO BIG for them!

Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
Add the flour and stir through.
Make a well in the centre and then add the eggs and milk.
Whisk through thoroughly and leave to rest at room temp for half and hour.
Preheat a frying pan to a moderate heat.
Melt butter and add it to the mixture, stir through.
Wipe the excess from the pan with kitchen towel and spoon ¼ cups of mixture into pan.
Cook until the bubbles burst before turning.
162 calories/677 kilojoules per pancake

Happy birthday Erin! We’re all so proud of your achievements and growth over the last twelve months. You’ve grown into such a big girl, doing so many big girl things. You’re crawling now and trying to get into as many “naughty” things as possible before you’re old enough to get into trouble for it. You quite enjoy chewing on the odd cord and squealing with delight while trying to run away from me when I come to collect you. You’re still not sleeping through the night, this is something I’d really like you to work on please, mama is exhausted and early morning trips to your cot are starting to become dangerous journeys.

Your party was wonderful—if I do say so myself, and I do—though you seemed overwhelmed by the people and the noise at times. You loved the presents and having your best baby friend there to help you unwrap them. You really seemed to enjoy playing in the purple icing on your cake.

I like to think that this coming year will be filled with nothing but joy and happiness and that the hard times are behind us. You fought so hard to be here, it’s only far that you get to have some fun.

Unfortunately she was bored with the whole thing by the time they started to do the single ear test, but they were happy enough with her that we don’t need to go back until she’s three and a half! This is our first test not to need re-testing!

I guess my goal of having this done by 5 is now out the window.

She sat balancing on my knee while we discussed her milestones and whether or not she’d had her hearing and eye tests (which she hasn’t). In the last three months she’s gained just under 1kg and now weighs 5.655kg, is 63.5cm long and has a head circumference of 40.8cms.

The physiotherapist on the other hand, while being happy with her in general is rather concerned with her head scooting. If you could see me now you’d see that I’m rolling my eyes. We’d already discussed this with the doctor who said “yeah, some babies do that” and was totally unconcerned. I don’t like this woman. At our last appointment she ignored my saying that Erin was sitting up by herself and continued to insist that I needed to make her lean forward to balance on her hands to help her learn to sit up. Of course she asked if Erin was in a walker or a Jolly Jumper, I said no but failed to mention her Excersaucer. I have to wonder how much contact she has with premmie babies.

At any rate our next big appointments are her eye test later this month followed by her hearing test in March. We’re not expecting any problems.